Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) occurs in 15â??46% of patients with celiac disease (CD), and in\nsome cases, it may be its only manifestation. Studies in animal models have shown that prebiotics,\nincluding inulin, may help to increase intestinal absorption of iron. The aim of this study was to\nevaluate the effect of a prebiotic, oligofructose-enriched inulin (Synergy 1), on iron homeostasis\nin non-anemic children and adolescents with celiac disease (CD) in association with a gluten-free\ndiet (GFD). Thirty-four CD patients (4â??18 years old) were randomized into two groups receiving\nSynergy 1 (10 g/day) or a placebo (maltodextrin) for three months. Before and after intervention,\nblood samples were collected from all patients for assessment of blood morphology, biochemical\nparameters and serum hepcidin concentration. We found that serum hepcidin concentration after the\nintervention was significantly decreased by 60.9% (p = 0.046) in the Synergy 1 group, whereas no\nsignificant difference was observed in the placebo group. No differences in morphological and\nbiochemical blood parameters (including ferritin, hemoglobin and C-reactive protein (CRP)) were\nobserved after intervention in either group. Given that hepcidin decrease may improve intestinal iron\nabsorption, these results warrant further investigation in a larger cohort and especially in patients\nwith IDA.
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